


variations upon a theme

by Lethildiren



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine, Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel), Five Nights at Freddy's, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: And Also Many Spoilers, Autistic Character, Child Abuse, Deceptively Dark Tags, Demon Summoning, Depression, Human Sacrifice, Incest, Major AU, Multi, Murder, Nonbinary Character, POV Second Person, Sadism, Schizophrenia, Snippets, Sociopathy, Suicide, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-17
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2019-03-06 05:25:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13404396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lethildiren/pseuds/Lethildiren
Summary: Once more, with feeling!(or: Ideas I could never finish and ideas I can't write but want to use anyway, summed up in sets of three snippets each. Three ideas per chapter. Fandoms vary between chapters, and occasionally get crossed together. Usually notthatdark, but I have to tag these things.)





	1. Undertale #1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is... _different._
> 
> This is something of a side project for me to work on when ideas come to mind that I know I can't write out fully - perhaps they're too long, or simply too _different_ \- but that I still want to use. Every fandom you can imagine might be here, eventually!... but for now, I'm sticking to the 'main four' listed up above.
> 
> The first four chapters of this story will focus on snippets of alternate universes for those fandoms, as those are the ones I have already written. They'll also be posted daily, until I run out of them. From there, it's a coin toss. Things may be light as can be. Things may get extremely dark, and even _gorier_ than some may be pleased with, or even worse. In those cases, I will put warnings at the beginning of the appropriate snippets-- both for disturbing content and possibly really bad writing, because obviously I'm not very good at writing _certain things._ I'll probably avoid writing those, out of principle, anyway.
> 
> And, of course, there will be a good deal of spoilers, canon-typical violence and death, and some generally disturbing content that comes along with canon or my own personal headcanons for these various things. I can't really put warnings for that in each chapter, as the characters I like to write the most are _walking spoilers,_ so here'll have to do.
> 
> With that out of the way... shall we begin?

**In one world,** you're not a hero at all. Instead, the first time you meet Chara is aboveground, when they catch you picking their pocket during a lovely dinner at the Flamesman Diner. Asriel’s quick thinking— a surprise, apparently — and generosity — not as much of a surprise  _ at all _ — sees you sharing a meal with the family, and makes you into a friend instead of an inconvenience, and ultimately Toriel actually  _ offers you a place to stay _ for the winter. It's... surreal.

Even if it doesn't last, you've never been happier.

* * *

Days turn to weeks. Castle Ebott’s snowed in, so you and Chara waste a day in the library. Asriel and the King, so far, have spent more of their time having a snowball fight in the courtyard than melting the snow, and eventually you look up to see Chara watching out the window.

Their shoulders tense a little as you stare, but their gaze never even twitches. “I have never partaken in a snowball fight before,” they admit, quietly, and your face lights up.

(The Queen forces you into a horrible, fuzzy, familiar sweater before you go out. But Chara seems to enjoy nailing you in the face with every shot, so you can live with that for now. Everything is fine.)

* * *

“As you know, Chara is adopted,” Toriel begins one day, about a month after you sort of became the Dreemurr children's unofficial roommate. “While Asriel does splendidly with keeping them company, and they do not seem to like other Humans, I believe they are in need of someone… else. A familiar face, perhaps.” Your breathing hitches, but Toriel isn’t done talking. “And I have certainly seen that you and them get along like a dog and a skeleton.” She smiles a bit at her own quip, and you wait with bated breath… and eventually smile too, when you remember to do that.

Her expression withers. “You do not…  _ have _ any other place to go after winter ends. Do you, child?” She speaks slowly, carefully. She sounds a lot like Chara, and you see now why Asriel thinks she's their favorite. You shake your head ‘no,’ and she gently nods. (The one place you  _ had _ isn't coming back.) “I see. Would it be… forward of me, I suppose, to ask if you would like to become a Dreemurr and stay with us?”

The grin on your face is contagious. You wear it all day; when Chara sees it, the look they give you is enough to make your heart flutter.

_ Now, _ you'll never be happier.

* * *

* * *

**In another world,** you and Chara have always been together. You're not sure what you are, but Chara likes the word  _ they. _ It fits. Plural, just like you and them. You and them are a  _ they. _

It works. It's weird, and Dad hates it, but you'll make it work. Chara's promised. (The things you think in their voice at night, when you're very tired, make your skin crawl. But you don't bring it up, because Chara would never do that. They know what's best.)

* * *

_ This is not working or making it work. _

You and Chara are outside, in the worst clothes you own, and Chara is in control now, stomping up the mountain over Little Ebott and muttering furiously. You try and block it out, but  _ they _ don't. “You couldn't stop me, Frisk. What were you  _ thinking? _ That  _ you _ were the one who thought of murder in their sleep? You would not harm a  _ cat.” _

_ I didn't want Dad dead _ goes unsaid.  _ I know you wanted to do something else _ isn't said either. But they hear anyway. You feel more trapped than you did when Dad locked you in your own closet, because even though you  _ can _ do something, you don't have a clue  _ what.  _ “This is best for us,” they insist. “Me  _ and _ you.”

You don't try to stop them. So they reach the top, and they hide. (They fall.)

* * *

Flowey isn't there to greet you now, now that Chara never really existed to get him killed. You still meet Toriel in the Ruins, but you meet Asgore too, because they are not rulers nor royalty (nor enemies) here. They're just old.

Asriel arrives within a day. He's older than you— probably older than Dad. (Older than  _ Dad’s _ Dad.) But he just looks like he's in his thirties. “Howdy,” he greets, awkwardly. The rest of the Underground, even the other six Humans down here with you, are just as… distant.

It's clear eventually. You don't really need to hope it doesn't give Chara ideas; it  _ does, _ and they ignore them. Because here, living with the Dreemurrs and awaiting whatever it is that'll come next… you're happy.

* * *

* * *

**In another world,** there's a third bedroom in Papyrus’s house in Snowdin. “ AH! DON’T GO IN THERE,” he says, almost awkwardly. “OUR FATHER IS OUT NOW, BUT SEVERELY DISLIKES INTRUSIONS! I’M… SURE YOU CAN ASK HIM TO LET YOU EXPLORE LATER!” Despite this, and Chara’s vague misgivings, you peek inside. It's as barebones —  _ argh _ — as it gets.

There's a trash tornado in the corner, though. That counts for something. You just aren't sure what.

* * *

The Royal Scientist, when you meet him, is so engrossed in his studies that you have to tap him on the shoulder to get his attention. Then he abruptly swivels around in his chair, and  _ you're  _ the one getting startled. (There's not much of a family resemblance.) “The Human,” he says. He doesn't seem surprised.

“I've been watching. You've done well avoiding Undyne; she was furious afterwards. Ah, if only Alphys’s cameras bore recordings…” a soft chuckle. His voice is deep and smooth, and reminds you of howling wind. Then his expression droops, and he stands up to his full height. (He's  _ taller than Papyrus, _ you realize, dimly.) “But there are more important issues at hand. The robot, for example.”

When you open your mouth to ask  _ what robot, _ Mettaton bursts through the wall. Only a really, really embarrassing shriek comes out. (Chara, please don't ever bring that up with anyone ever. Please.)

* * *

Someone’s waiting for you at the end of the hall. No one else in all the Underground has a silhouette like that; too tall, too slender. And the black labcoat is too shiny. “Gaster,” you murmur. The Royal Scientist turns to look at you, his hands folded behind his back.

“Welcome, child. You have come quite a long way.” He looks you over. Something red flickers in his eye, like bloodied lightning. You feel a little colder. “And have accomplished a good deal more than you might imagine, I see.” The smile that crosses his scarred, marbled skull is thin, but genuine. Chara relaxes immediately, and so do your shoulders.

“Allow me to explain,” he enunciates, concisely and precisely: “The reason why it is good that you have no LOVE.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _1: Even when there's no grand prophecy tying them together and no Barrier to trap them underground, Chara and Frisk will always meet._
> 
> _2: It is not unheard of - just rather rare - for people to be born with multiple minds in one brain. With that in mind, there is only one logical way to escalate Chara and Frisk's canonical situation... for better or worse._
> 
> _3: I have always believed that, had he survived, Doctor Gaster would have been the Judge._
> 
> Anyway! That's the first chapter done. The potential stories listed here are freely available for anyone to expand on, and the ones that will be shown off in the future are much the same. Please credit me if you use them, though.
> 
> I hope you enjoy what comes next! (I know _I_ will.)
> 
>  
> 
> (Oh, and to be clear: Yes, I'll still post other things other than this from time to time. This is just to pass the time in-between those.)


	2. Bendy #1

**In one world,** it isn't a letter that arrives at Henry’s home at all. Instead, it's a knock on the door, and a familiar face (and one that shouldn't be there, but is anyway). “Joey? And— wait, wh—”

“Hello, Henry,” Joey greets. Bendy quickly joins in, chirping out a “Hi!” Henry just stops talking and rubs a hand over his eyes. Neither of them go away.

“You should come in,” he says, eventually. He steps to the side, and Bendy rushes in immediately, nothing but a black and white blur. Joey smiles, and moves to follow. (It takes Henry much longer to make himself move to the living room.)

* * *

Joey takes an hour and a half to explain. It's not the idea that Joey Drew Studios is still in business that entices Henry back, or even the group photograph the older man shows him; it's Bendy himself, who sounds so very similar to Joey's own voice for the demon… but not similar at all, somehow.

He sounds…  _ real. _ And he sounds like he's been looking forward to meeting Henry for a long time.

“Sammy still loses it without his coffee, doesn't he?” Joey barks out a laugh at that, and tugs him into something resembling a bear hug. Bendy is quick to join in. “I don't know why I never came back,” Henry murmurs.

“S’fine. You're here  _ now, _ ain’tcha?” Is Bendy’s cheery response. He suddenly realizes he can't stop grinning.

* * *

Sammy might be going grey, but he hasn't changed in many other ways. When he first sees Henry, his response is to throw the papers he'd been holding into his face and wander off in the opposite direction, muttering something about coffee machines and it being too early for the toons to be “that excited.”

Boris and Alice are  _ ecstatic _ to meet him, and sweep him up into a group hug within a few minutes. Boris doesn't talk much, but sounds a lot like Henry remembers voicing him— deep and drawling, and well-suited to dry quips and the occasional moment of complete obliviousness.

Alice and Susie sound identical, except that Alice pronounces ‘either’ as  _ 'eye-ther.’ _ This causes Sammy much grief, sends Henry into a laughing fit at least thrice and makes Joey mix up their names twice in one day. Both women take it in stride.

All in all… it's just like the home he remembers.

* * *

* * *

**In another world,** it is a woman that knocks him unconscious as he turns a corner in the music department, and it is a woman that greets him when he wakes much later.  _ “Little Henry, all alone,” _ she croons, her voice a gargling mockery of the Allison Pendle he'd heard once or twice before he left.

“A—” he can hardly believe it. “Allison?!” Bendy being alive is one thing; this  _ thing _ here before him, a warped and skeletal creature that barely resembles a  _ human _ at all, let alone a woman, is horrifying. “What— what is this?!”

Allison (if he can really call her that now) laughs, and the mask she's tied to her head sways as she shakes. Bits of ink flake off from her black flesh, and he feels a few drops hit his skin. “My gift! My— mine, mine,  _ mine. _ The ink demon’s! You—” she grips him by the collar of his shirt, forcing him to stare into her empty eyes. “You're going to get me  _ out. _ I just need _ it _ to come get you, make you its own instead of  _me."_

And  _ it _ comes, as Allison had planned. Henry had sincerely hoped he would never have to listen to a friend screaming in terror ever again, but there's nothing he can do about it now. So he runs, he falls, he finds…

…

_ “Alice?” _

* * *

He doesn't know what happened to Susie. He knows Alice knows, and Bendy probably had something to do with it, but he'd be an idiot if he thought either of them are going to tell him. Alice hasn't spoken a word since she made an appearance, and he can tell that it hurts her; she'd spent more screentime  _ singing _ than anything else, and now she can hardly even play the piano.

But she's got one hell of a left hook, at least. It's helped.

It pains him, too, to see Boris the way he is now. He hears memories of old friends in the mangled wolf; Sammy? Wally? Even bits of  _ Shawn, _ and he hardly knew the man. He'd have thought those people, this  _ thing _ that seems to be made up of them, would want to be whole again— but Boris wants nothing more than to rip out the parts that he ‘knows’ are the others, and leave himself with only one voice.

He'd actually been perfect before Henry arrived, he's heard. Oh, how he's  _ heard _ it. The wolf seems to love hearing himself talk; it's not a voice _Henry_ likes hearing much, in contrast. Boris was never meant to speak that much. Never, never, never.

There's a lot of things that were never meant to happen, but are now. Henry was never supposed to pick up a gun again. He wasn't supposed to  _ fire _ a gun again.

(…he wasn't supposed to lose  _ Alice.) _

* * *

In the end, he knows who is who, and what happened in the depths of Joey Drew Studios. Susie is dead; and now Alice is, too. Boris, too, is gone, and took Sammy and Wally and so many others with him. No one will remember the faces they owned, once, or their voices that persisted for so _long._ _( “Henry, help me,”_ Alice had whispered, finally. Her voice had been nothing but Susie’s own, in the end. _“P-please.” )_ No one will ever find them, or even mourn.

…no, that's not right.

Henry will do that himself, if he has to. He'll remember them. He'll mourn. Alone.

And he’s going to burn this goddamned studio to the ground.

* * *

* * *

**In another world,** the Ink Machine never works. In fact, Joey rips up the blueprints and sets them over an open flame one day, and nothing ever comes of it. But even despite that, Henry finds the characters coming to life anyway. (One of them.) His son tells everyone to call him Bendy instead of Walt, and remembers every cartoon his father's ever animated perfectly, and keeps doodling familiar figures in the margins of his schoolbooks (and getting in trouble for it).

It takes Henry catching him in the basement, doing…  _ something… _ for him to finally give up and contact Joey.

* * *

Joey can't explain it. Walter seems to be deliberately avoiding the man, as well— even when there's no way he should be able to see him coming. Bendy silhouettes are replaced with  _ FAILURE _ and  _ IMPATIENT, _ and this time it is  _ Joey _ who storms out on him in the middle of an argument. Henry’s never heard him swear before, and doesn't expect to hear him do it again.

…

There's a pentagram in his basement.

* * *

He checks the basement one night, as he always does these days, to find Walter on the floor, unconscious. There's candles all around, their flames flickering and wavering in a wind that shouldn't be there, and the star beneath his feet is  _ bloody— _

But his son’s blood is  _ black. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _1: It isn't at all surprising how much would have been better if Joey Drew wasn't a complete nutcase, is it?_
> 
> _2: In which one character was introduced much earlier than usual, and another was introduced much later. Nothing goes to plan._
> 
> _3: If nothing else, eldritch ink demons are stubborn little things. And probably_ spiteful, _too._
> 
>  
> 
> Yes, the Toons' speech is displayed in Comic Sans. I'll let you interpret that however you want. (I've heard that some people have a hard time reading that font on mobile, and now that I think about it, the same might apply for the other ones used in the Undertale chapter earlier. If _you_ have issues with them, too, don't worry! Just scroll up to the top of the page, click the 'Hide Creator's Style' button, and watch: it'll go away.)
> 
> Next up: _Doki Doki Literature Club!_


	3. Doki Doki #1

**In one world,** it isn't a game at all. This is reality, and that means that the things Monika sees sometimes aren't real. _She_ can't be crazy, right? Just because sometimes she sees people who aren't there doesn't mean she is, right?

Right?

(That new friend of Sayori's is making her have second thoughts.)

* * *

She hears Sayori’s friend talk in two voices, sometimes. It's never the same voice, and it's _always_ one she's heard once or twice before. But she never recognizes it until much later, and sometimes she realizes that she has no business recalling something that obscure. Sometimes she looks at him and he has no _self,_ no features, no personality, nothing. He's just empty.

And she _knows_ that it's true. That's what he is— empty, for something else to use. She's talked to him before, and Sayori’s known him since they were both _three years old,_ and she never really knew him until last Tuesday. Those were never _real_ memories. Why does she feel like they are?

~~One day, she's going to rip that other person out of him and find out.~~

* * *

She comes into class at the very end of the week, and she can _see it._ She can see something else guiding every move he makes, hands on his wrists as he lifts a hand up to hand Sayori his poem, a face blinking and twitching and mouthing every word he says and _looking at her—_

_"Monika!"_

She doesn't want to open her eyes. She just wants to disappear entirely. She doesn't want to see  _that_ again. Is it still there? Was it ever there? She feels hands on her shoulders, and she can almost feel the mottled, clammy, inhuman flesh of the hands guiding them too. It's real, it's real, it _has_ to be!

She can't comprehend what's going to come next i͝f̢ i͝t̷ i̴̵҉s̢҉̸͘͜n̴'̸҉͏͏t̷̶͜—͏̡

* * *

**In another world,** Yuri latches onto him immediately. Sayori is there, as she always will be ~~(when Monika is not the one writing her script)~~ , but she comes second. He's always been more interested in dark things, and Yuri feels like someone he could help. (Oh, he's got _no idea_ who needs his help.)

The day Sayori sees her kiss him goodbye is the day she starts wondering if she's really needed anymore.

* * *

She's hanging on. Yuri _loves_ him, and he's probably even more obsessed with her than she is him. Sayori's planned talk, her confession, everything went out the window nearly a month ago. It'd have been pointless anyway. Yuri looks like she might try and get her kicked out of the club if she even tries to _talk_ to him.

Monika whispers assurances, and says that she could be much worse. She'd planned to have a fifth member of the club, once— another girl, someone Sayori doesn't know— but it never worked out. Sayori can be better than that, can't she? Monika's the one who's supposed to keep the Club together, and that means making sure nobody has any reason to be mad at anyone else. Sayori can help, can't she?

~~(Can you or can't you?)~~

* * *

~~(It never mattered.)~~

He goes missing. He _goes missing._

Monika is distraught. Yuri, although she's trying to keep her composure, looks about three words away from stabbing someone in the neck. Maybe herself. Sayori… feels numb, mostly. It's normal these days. Moreso on bad days, and _this_ is a **_bad day._ ** There's nothing she can do to help anymore, so she hardly feels anything until she breaks down in Monika’s arms.

(She finds something (someone) in the dumpster outside his favorite diner, about four days later. She _knows,_ immediately, but doesn't want to confront the idea that he went missing while on a date with Yuri. Not like that. Yuri wouldn't have done _that…_ would she?)

~~(By the time she accepts that maybe she _would,_ there's nothing left of her. There's only ——————.)~~

* * *

**In another world,** Monika blinks at you when you react to reading your own name in her dialogue. “That _is_ your name, right? Oh, gosh— imagine how _embarrassing_ it'd be if I mixed you up with someone else!” Her face is tinged a bit red, and you can't help but laugh a little.

“No,” you say into your microphone, testing the waters. “I just never thought you'd be so… perceptive?” She giggles silently at that, her head bobbing briefly, and you feel your heart soar. You aren't sure what it means yet— not here, with… this. (Them? It? Her? Do you  _dare_ say it's  _actually her?)_

But you'll find out.

* * *

Monika is _alive._ She watches videos with you when you bring them up in a different window, and holds conversations with you like anyone else, and even makes an effort to play your games with you, and she really, truly _loves_ you. It's surreal. Unreal. Should be impossible, but here you are.

One day, you show her _Your Reality._ She closes the game window herself after that— and you worry, because she doesn't _do_ that. She _hates_ it when _you_ do that, and you even stopped doing it a month ago, yourself. But even knowing how uncomfortable she probably is, you still wait until she pings you (just a little chime and a notification on the side, nothing intrusive) to open the game again.

When you load it up and find her staring at you, she opens her mouth and _speaks._ “So… I should probably apologize. I worried you, right? Sorry. _But…”_ she spreads her arms out, and you grin wide. “Weeeeell… surprise!”

It's a good day, all in all.

* * *

One night, not long after Monika's little surprise, you dream of a classroom. There's a young woman there, waiting for you, and before you can quite even comprehend what's going on, you find yourself in her arms. Neither of you speak; there's nothing to _say,_ here where you can't even tell which thoughts are hers and which are yours. It passes in a wonderful, wonderful… blur.

When you wake up the following morning and open up your laptop, you find Monika sitting there like always, looking rather pleased with herself. When you ask why, she just winks and taps her forehead. "I just learned a new trick last night. That's all."

(And that's all you really need to hear to know that you'd never, ever give ~~this~~ her up.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _1: Everyone else is broken, somehow. Who is to say that, if Monika hadn't thrown things off the rails, she wouldn't have been the same?_
> 
> _2: Natsuki? Never heard of her. (I'll leave whatever happened to get rid of her up to you.)_
> 
> _3: It's a classic, isn't it?_  
>   
> 
> To be honest? I thought I'd posted this three days ago. But it turns out I just hit "save without preview," and it was sitting here collecting dust while I was busy with real life. It's for the best, probably; I wound up rewriting the endings of the first and last snippets right before posting this, because they were both too… on-the-nose. And I'm not sure if I got the characterization right. Still not as pleased about this chapter as I could be, in general, but it's definitely a start. (I blame the fact that I wrote these three at four in the morning.)
> 
> Either way…
> 
> Next up: _Five Nights at Freddy's_


End file.
